ermine
English
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a9/Veasel.jpg/220px-Veasel.jpg)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/18/Coa_Illustration_Ermine_spots.svg/220px-Coa_Illustration_Ermine_spots.svg.png)
Etymology
From Middle English ermine, ermin, ermyn, from Old French ermin, ermine, hermine.
There are two main theories for the origin of Old French ermine. Germanic origin is suggested via Old Dutch *harmino (“stoat skin”), from *harmo (“stoat, weasel”) (compare Dutch hermelijn and dialectal herm), from Proto-Germanic *harmǭ, *harmô (compare Old English hearma, Old High German harmo (harmin (adjective), obsolete German Harm), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱormō (compare Romansch carmun, obsolete Lithuanian šarmuõ). Romance sources identify the animal with the corresponding word for Armenian, possibly from Medieval Latin mūs Armenius (“Armenian mouse”) or a posterior compound.
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈɜːmɪn/
Audio (Southern England): (file)
- (General American) IPA(key): /ˈɝmɪn/
- Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)mɪn
Noun
ermine (countable and uncountable, plural ermines or ermine)
- A weasel found in northern latitudes (Mustela erminea in Eurasia, Alaska, and the Arctic, Mustela haidarum in Haida Gwaii, Mustela richardsonii in the rest of North America); its dark brown fur turns white in winter, apart from the black tip of the tail.
- The white fur of this animal, traditionally seen as a symbol of purity and used for judges' robes.
- (by extension, figuratively) The office of a judge.
- (heraldry) The fur of this animal, used as a heraldic tincture: a white field with a repeating pattern of stylized black spots.
- Any of various moths, especially in the family Yponomeutidae
Synonyms
- stoat (British)
- short-tailed weasel (American)
Derived terms
Related terms
Translations
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Adjective
ermine (not comparable)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d8/Armoiries_Bretagne_-_Arms_of_Brittany.svg/220px-Armoiries_Bretagne_-_Arms_of_Brittany.svg.png)
Translations
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Verb
ermine (third-person singular simple present ermines, present participle ermining, simple past and past participle ermined)
- (transitive) To clothe with ermine.
Anagrams
Middle English
Noun
ermine
- Alternative form of ermyne
Old French
Alternative forms
Etymology
Either from Vulgar Latin *(mus) Armenius (“Armenian (mouse)”) (see Armenia) or Frankish *harmīn (“ermine”, adjective) (from *harmō (“ermine”)).
Noun
ermine oblique singular, f (oblique plural ermines, nominative singular ermine, nominative plural ermines)
- ermine (fabric)
- c. 1170, Chrétien de Troyes, Érec et Énide:
- La pane fu de blanc ermine
- (please add an English translation of this quotation)
Descendants
- English terms inherited from Middle English
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms derived from Old French
- English terms derived from Germanic languages
- English terms derived from Proto-Germanic
- English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- English terms derived from Medieval Latin
- English 2-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio links
- Rhymes:English/ɜː(ɹ)mɪn
- Rhymes:English/ɜː(ɹ)mɪn/2 syllables
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English uncountable nouns
- English countable nouns
- English indeclinable nouns
- English nouns with irregular plurals
- en:Heraldic tinctures
- English adjectives
- English uncomparable adjectives
- English verbs
- English transitive verbs
- en:Hides
- en:Mustelids
- en:Moths
- Middle English lemmas
- Middle English nouns
- Old French terms inherited from Vulgar Latin
- Old French terms derived from Vulgar Latin
- Old French terms derived from Frankish
- Old French lemmas
- Old French nouns
- Old French feminine nouns
- Old French terms with quotations